Homemade Pop Tarts

Everyone loves Pop Tarts, right? Let’s just start with that. They are freakin’ amazing, but the way to make them even more amazing-er is to make them at home. And it’s surprisingly super-easy to do. They key is that you can use ingredients that are essentially already made for you, so you get a huge head start.

Here, I’m going to show how to make two versions – cinnamon sugar (which was my first Pop Tart love) and raspberry, just because I love raspberry. But the beauty of it is, you can make these whatever flavor you want! Strawberry, S’More, apricot, chocolate… whatever you can come up with.

Ingredients

Pop Tart Crust

· 2 refrigerated pie crusts per flavor. So, if you want to make both the raspberry and cinnamon sugar versions you’ll need 4 pie crusts (You can make your own crust if you prefer, but I’m feeling lazy and I promise you’ll like the results here! But, if you want feel free to use your own recipe here.)

Directions

Lay out your first pie crust and cut it into 6 rectangles of the same size, then do that with the second as well.

Place 6 of the squares on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, evenly spaced. Take a fork and poke a few holes in each of the squares on the sheet and set aside.

Next, time to make the filling – we’ll do the raspberry first, then the cinnamon sugar. For the raspberry, mix the preserves, cornstarch and water in a small bowl – you can do this with just a fork.

Take the filling and spread it evenly on each of the six squares, keeping it about a half inch away from the edges.

Break the egg into a small bowl and mix it with 1 teaspoon of milk. Brush the mixture along the edges of the rectangle, where there is no filling. This will help glue the sides together.

Next take the remaining 6 rectangles and put them over the rectangles with the filling on them. Take a fork and crimp all along the edges. Then use the fork to poke two or three more sets of holes in the top.

For the cinnamon sugar, mix the brown sugar, 2 teaspoon cinnamon, flour, ¼ teaspoon vanilla and your teaspoon of warm water. As above, take the filling and spread it evenly on each of the six squares, keeping it about a half inch away from the edges.

Once again, break the egg into a small bowl and mix it with 1 teaspoon of milk. Brush the mixture along the edges of the rectangle, where there is no filling. This will help glue the sides together. Take the remaining 6 rectangles and put them over the rectangles with the filling on them. Use your fork and crimp all along the edges. Then use the fork to poke two or three more sets of holes in the top.

Brown sugar cinnamon on the left, raspberry goodness on the right!

The baking for either version is the same. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Take them off the sheet and cool them on a wire rack. Make sure they’re completely cooled before you ice them.

SO…I overfilled the brown sugar cinnamon ones and didn’t crimp them properly so they bubbled over while baking… Not everything goes right, but they aren’t burnt and they still taste great!

For the icing I’ll do the same as above – first the raspberry, then the cinnamon sugar. For the raspberry, mix the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon raspberry preserves, 1 tablespoon milk and the vanilla until you get a nice icing consistency. You might have to add a little milk or a little more powdered sugar to get the consistency you want but if you DO add milk add VERY little at a time. Believe me, a little goes a long way. Then, while the icing is still soft, add the sprinkles

For the cinnamon sugar, mix together the powdered sugar, milk, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon vanilla and spread along the tops of each tart. See the paragraph immediately above for a watchout on adding more milk.

That’s it! They look like they took a lot more effort than they really do, and they are super good. I’d love to hear from anyone who tries another filling or icing – let me know what you did and how it turned out!

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Ugly Advice

Watch your oven! The cook times here are “ish” as in “cook for 8 minutes-ish”. I say this because not all ovens are the same. Your oven at 350° may actually run at 340°, while someone else’s may run at 365°. That’s fine – just watch the desserts on the first baking sheet or so to make sure they don’t burn. Then adjust the times so they make sense for you.